Turbine-engine



C. J. WALTERS.

TURBINE ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 31,19?- 1,353,687. h PatentedSept. 21, 1920.

4 SHEETSS.HEET 1.

' VENTO WITNESSES 6 J Vl aZte r3 ATTORNEY C. J. WALTERS.

TURBINE ENGINE APPLICATION man JULY 3!, 1917.

Patented Sep 4 S H E E INVENTOR CCJ'. Waiter t. 21, 1920. I TS- SHEET 2.

-WITNESSES ATTo F! N EY c. J. WALTERS.

TURBINE ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 31, 1911.

1 ,353 ,687, I Patented Sept. 21, 1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

INVENTOR WITNESSES J WQ'ZZQTS may W svmfim ATTORN'EY C. J. WALTERS.

TUR BINE ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3111917- 1,353,687. ept. 21,1920.

4 SHEETS SHEET 4.

INVENTOR WITNESSES C. VVE/lfS ATTORNEY connection with the wires srarasrareur orricri.

CANAR-D a. WALTERS, or ELLAMAB, TERRITORY or ALASKA.

' TURBINE-ENGINE;

S pccificationof Letters Patent. Patented 21 1920 Application filed July 31, 1917-. Serial No. 183,784. I

T 0 all whom it may concern." I

Be it known that I, CANARD J. WVALTERs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ellamar, Territory of Alaska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Turbine- Engines,of whichthe following is a specification. U V

This invention relates to a turbine, and it has for its primary object to provide a structure capable of receiving its energy from the expansive action of ignited gases.

An object of the invention is to provide simple means for putting a fluid under pressure upon explosion of a gas and controlling the flow of this fluid to either of a plurality of units through the action of a single operationof a lever. I f

Besides the above my invention is distinguished in the novel manner of utilizing all the expansive action of the fluid by constructing a turbine so that the fluid will act successively upon a plurality of sets of blades carried by a rotor. p

WVith these and other objects :in view the invention'will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in accompanying drawings, wherein Figurel is a diagrammatic view of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of two propelling units.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view through one of the unit s. i

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional" view through one of the units]? Fig. 5 is a. side elevation of the'rotori Fig. 6 is an interior view of a portion of the stator.

Figs. 7 and 8 are the valve mechanism and associated parts for feedingfuel to the expansion. cylinder.

Fig. 9 is'a fragmentary sectional view of the fuel pump.

Referring'to tllBClIZLWlHQS, the engine may be said to comprisetwo units 1 and 2, as

shown in Figs. 1 and 2, one unit beingem- 'ployed for driving the engine shaft inone direction, and the other-unit being used for,

driving the engine shaftinthe opposite direction. Referring primarily'to' Figs. 3, 4' and 5, it will be observed'that each unit com-- prises a rotor casing'3 of-.a generally cylin-. drical formation comprising oppositely lo-- cated. heads 4 and having in the peripheral.

Y wall-thereof arcuate channels 5 for the detail views illustrating movement of the expansive fluid admitted to the rotor casing3. The formation of one 5- of saidvpassages 5 is best illustrated in Fig.

3 wherein it will be seen that it extends throughout a greater portion of the circumference of the casing 3, intersecting an intake port 6 to which leads a fluid feed pipe 7. There is no direct communication between passages 5, but the fluid having acted upon a rotor exhausts through a passage 8 into" the next passage 5 in the series.

The rotor is composed of a plurality of V cylindrical sections 9'arranged side by side as shown in Fig. 5, said'sections being, the duplicate of each other in allrespects and each section being formed in the periphery thereof vwith'an annular series of depres- .sl-ons 10 forming pockets or, buckets and shoulders within and against which the fluid under pressure acts to impart rotary motion to the entlre rotor of each unit according to the direction in which the engine is being driven. Therotor sections are arranged in a slightly spacedvrelationto each other as shown in Fig. ,5' so as to admit of the use of intervening division 1316068 or partitions 11, shown in Fig.4. Thesepartitlons divide the-interior of the stator or casing 3 into a plurality of compartments, in each of which one ofthe rotor sections 9 operates. As shown in Fig. i, the expanding fluid entering through the inlet port 6," Y

.theatmosphere. Each inlet pipe 7 iscontrolled by an inlet .valve 14. The general arrangement of the valves 13 and 14 is illus trated in Fig. 2 wherein it will be observed that the arms 15 of all of said valves are operatively connected to a common operating rod 1.6 which is in turn connected to and controlled by a single manually operable lever 17 pivotally supported .on a bracket and equipped with'athumb latch 18 which engages an arcuate rack 19. By manipulating the lever 17., the inlet and exhaust valves maybe opened to any desired degree or en 'tirely closed. By swingingthe lever 17 to the full extent of its movement in either direction, the inlet and exhaust valves -of one of the engine units 1 and 2 may be thrown out of operation and the other unit thrown into operation for changing the 'direction of rotation of the engine shaft 20 upon which the rotors are fastened by any suitable means.

As shown in Fig. at each of the rotor casings is furnished with stuffing boxes 21 at the opposite ends thereof and also provided with lubrication holes 22 leading to those portions of the rotor shaft which are journaled in the casings or stators 3. As shown in Fig. 3, each arcuate passage 5 is intersected by an arcuate series of velocity increasing passages 23 and the discharge ends of the passages 23 intersect a corresponding number of expansion chambers or pockets 24. formed in the inner face of the stator. The last one of these expansion chambers 24 communicates directly with the receiving end of the transfer passage 8. Fig. 3 also illustrates the formation of the entire rotor casing or stator into two semi-circular sec tionswhich are flanged as shown at 25 and secured together by fastening means 26 such as bolts which may be also passed through suitable engine bearers or supports 27 0f any suitable formation. Figs. 1 and 2 show at 28 the laterally deflected or inclined portions of the casing containing the passages 5 and the transfer passages 8 and indicate how the expanding fluid after acting upon one section of therotor is transferred to the adjacent section, this operation being continued until all of the rotor sections have been acted upon by the expanding fluid, whereupon the latter is released through the adjacent exhaust pipe 12.

29 designates an internal combustion cylinder having adjacent to one end thereof a laterally offset receiving chamber. 31 designates a compressed air tank which may have air compressed therein by any suitable a1r compressor or pump, the tank 31 being cylinder 29, said. pipe 33 being controlled by regulating valve 35 represents afuel tank which may be arranged at an elevation above the engine to provide for a grav- V ity feed. 36 designates a fuel feed pipe leading from the tank 35 to the compressed air pipe 33 at the point 37 between the valve 34 and the receiving chamber 30 of the cylinder '29. The pipe 36 is controlled by a regulating valve 38 and in connection with the feed pipe 36, I employ a force feed pump 39. I also pass a portionof the fuel feed pipe 36 through a part of the cylinder 29 as indicated by dotted lines in F ig. 8 so that the hydro-carbon or other fuel oil may be heated preparatory to being taken up by the compressed air in the pipe 33. 10 designates a spark plug arranged in any suitable ignition circuit for firing the charges in the cylinder 29. The fuel feed pipe 36 may be equipped with an additional and more conveniently located regulating valve 11 if so desired, the latter being shown adj acent to the cylinder 29.

The mixture ignited in the cylinder 29 is carried through a pipe l2 controlled by a back pressure check valve 13 into a pres sure tank 44 equipped with a pressure gage 45. From the tank 44, the fluid passes through either of the intake pipes 7 to the rotor casings or units 1 and 2. Each of the pipes 7 is preferably equipped with a cut off valve 46 in addition to the valves 1&- hereinabove referred to.

47 designated an air compressor for forcing air into the tank 31. The compressor is illustrated in Fig. 1 as embodying two cylinders, the reciprocatory pistons $8 of which are connected by rods 4L9 to the wrist pins 50 of a pair of crank disks 51 mounted on a shaft journal in a. bearing bracket 52 on the frame of the engine and operativel connected by ears 53 and 5a with the engine shaft. (Tompressed air pipes 55 lead from the cylinders 17 to the tank 31, back flow being prevented by check valves In order to provide for easy and reliable starting of the engine, each of the units 1 and 2 is equipped with a pressure manifold 57 with which one of the pipes 7 communirotor section. Likewise a lubricating manifold 60 may be usedin conjunction with all of the rotor sections to simultaneously lubricate the meeting faces between said sections and the dividing partitions 11. The oil in each manifold 60 may be heated by a portion of the hot gases in the adjacent manifold 57 by a small tubular connection 61 as shown in Fig. 1. The lubrication of the several rotor sections may be controlled by independently regulating valves 62.

The admission of explosive mixture to the receiving chamber 30 of the cylinder 29 is controlled by an inlet Valve 63, see Fig. 7, said valve being mounted upon a valve stem 6tcontrolled by a tappet 65 which cooperates with a tappet bar 66 actuated by a cam 67 shown as having diametrically ofiset cam faces '68 and mounted upon a rotary shaft 69 which may be geared to and driven by the engine shaft 20 in any suitable way. The valve 63 is held normally seated by means of a compression spring 70.

The pump 39 above referred to comprises in connection with a cylinder, a reciprocatory pump piston 71 having attached thereto a rod 72 carrying an eccentric strap 7 3 which encircles an eccentric 74 on the cam shaft 69 above referred to. The oil feed pipe 36 leads into the pump cylinder 39 and contains a back pressure check valve 75.

The other section of the feed pipe 36 leads off from the cylinder 39 and also contains a back pressure check valve 76.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the operation of the engine will now be understood. As previously indicated, the engine comprises two power units 1 and 2, in which the rotor sections are reversely disposed with relation to eachother, adapting the engine to be reversed or driven in either direction. The supply of explosive fluid may be directed to either unit by the valve mechanism'above described. The fluid continues to expand in connection with the series of rotor sections of each unit until it is finally exhausted to the atmosphere. After passing around approximately three-fourths of the circumference of one rotor section, the fluid is transferred to the adjacent'section where a similar operation takes place, this being continued until the final exhaust port is reached. The manifold arrangement indicated at 57 in conjunction with the valves 59, enables the full pressure to be simultaneously delivered to each rotor section for starting purposes, After the engine starts, the valves 59 maybe successively closed. After they are all closed, the expanding fluid will operate only on the 'ini-' tial rotor section with its full force, and p with decreasing force on each succeeding rotor section.

I claim In a turbine engine, a rotor having a series of pockets in the periphery thereof,

each pocket having a radial end wall and an inclined bottom wall, a stator having a series of pockets in its inner periphery, said second named pockets being similar to and disposed reversely with respect to the first named pockets, an arcuate passage extending outside of said series of second named pockets, and a series of velocity increasing passages having their receiving ends leading from said. passage and their discharge ends leading through the radial end walls of said stator pockets, the stator being also formed with annular transfer passages establishing indirect communication through the chamber to the succeeding passage.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

CANARD J. WALTERS. 

